Content scaling sure is popular, but how much is it hurting your brand?
Content scaling is killing your brand, and I’ll bet you any amount you like you don’t even realise it.
But, Dave, more content is good, right?
You expect me to agree since I harp on about content every other day in some shape or form, but I don’t.
Content is at its most effective when it’s done well, and I guarantee you that scaling content production to the extent some brands want (judging by the job specs I see) is doing more harm than good.
You don’t have to be an expert to see why. You do have to take off the rose-tinted glasses and look at the bigger picture, though, and that’s where you’re going wrong.
Ignore the AI content risks at your peril
Look, I get the appeal of content scaling using AI tools. You produce a ton of content quickly and cheaply and reap the benefits of better rankings, AI citations, and content your audience loves.
In your dreams, maybe.
The reality is very different, highlighted by AI content risks I and many other content professionals warned about from the start. You’re watering down your authority by doing so much and you’re adding more clutter and fluff at a time when clarity and ease of access matter more than ever.
Let’s recap: scaled content abuse
Scaled content abuse is one of my favourite topics to rant about lately because no one seems to remember or care about it until they’re penalised.
I really want to say, “I told you so,” when this happens, but apparently that’s not nice or professional to say out loud. What a shame.
Put simply, scaled content abuse is creating a large amount of content that doesn’t help users to manipulate search rankings. The mass-produced content is often commodity content found elsewhere on the web, usually rewritten in the brand’s style but offering nothing new or valuable.
This should be raising red flags for you already, but if you’re dead-set on content scaling, at least read Google’s guidelines on scaled content abuse in their spam policies.
Why scaled content is hurting your rankings
Okay, okay, enough fear mongering. You want to know the specifics as to why AI content and scaled content is hurting your brand? I got you.
Too much content for your audience
Ask yourself: is my audience only consuming my content?
You might want to think the answer is yes but the reality is they’re consuming content in multiple places. You’re already competing for their time and attention.
With your content scaling initiative, let’s say you’ve created 100 pages. Who has time to consume all of that content when people have other things to do? Add to the fact you’re creating thin content that’s devoid of value or depth, and you’re likely to turn people to your competitors instead.
You’re faced with lower traffic and engagement across your website, signalling your content isn’t as valuable to users. Why would search engines continue to show you?
You’re gaming the system
To an extent, everyone in SEO and content is gaming the system. We’re trying to make our brand or client rank in the top spot to grow traffic and increase audience size.
Using content scaling to add more content than people will ever consume is a sign your goal is search results and not adding value for users. You’ve found a method that undermines what search engines want to achieve.
It may well work in the short term but one of two things will happen:
- Your content is buried by better, higher-quality and more valuable content from competitors
- You get landed with a penalty of some sort, of varying severity
At this point, your efforts go from growth to recovery, undoing everything you did just to get back to where you were before and starting again.
How is that a good use of time or resource?
Your content is fighting itself for dominance
I hate using jargon as much as you do, but content and keyword cannibalisation is a thing. You might not care about SEO but search engines do, so you should be aware of it.
Scaled content means overlap where there shouldn’t be. To pad out content to “ideal length and depth” you’ll deal with the same topics and clusters more than once to target individual keywords. Search engines then don’t know what to show, so it might not show anything – undoing all the SEO work you’ve put in so far.
Your content should be distinct enough to stand on its own and go up against your competitors rather than fighting itself.
Ultimately, you fall behind because you can’t keep on top of it all.
How to scale content without losing quality
After all that, you still want to look at content scaling? Lucky for you, there are ways to scale your content processes that keep your brand and growth safe.
Stop creating garbage with AI tools
If there’s one hill I’ll happily die on, it’s that AI tools cannot produce content that adds value, engages audiences, or converts.
AI tools can only regurgitate what’s already out there. Even if the content it copies does well, it doesn’t understand why it works well. Only people can help there.
Sure, you can try editing AI content but you’ll never match its tone or style correctly. Any changes made will be obvious, and you won’t actually have saved any time.
If you absolutely must use these tools, think where you can boost efficiency elsewhere:
- Research – put your AI tools to use by having them research topics and provide the basis for your content (but validate everything it says)
- Structure and layout – not sure what the best structure is for your content? Ask AI to suggest a narrative flow you can work from or amend to get you started
- Editing – don’t allow AI tools to change your content but ask them to spot typos, grammar errors, inconsistencies. It won’t be as good as a human editor, but they may help
Think outside the box with your tools, rather than settling for garbage content.
Balance volume and quality
How much content should you actually create and publish? There’s no hard answer as everyone will think differently.
You should consider the resource you have (now that we’re not using AI tools for content generation), the value you can add, and what your audience wants.
Another factor is how quickly you want to go through your topics. What happens if you run out of relevant ideas?
One or two blogs a week is plenty and gives you a lot to work on over time. You also ensure there’s capacity to study the performance of your content and update pieces that need a boost without compromising on your new content production.
Remember, focus on quality and value, look at your pipeline, and add content refreshes to the mix. Any project-based work should also be factored in. You’ll then know how much content to create.
Distribute your content properly
Do you actually need more content, or do you need to make the content you already produce do more?
I won’t say it’s a hack (because it really shouldn’t be at this stage), but content distribution is something many people forget about when creating their content strategies.
One piece of content can go far if you plan ahead. Let’s take a blog post as an example. You could:
- Share it from your social media accounts
- Post it on LinkedIn Articles
- Take a few attention-grabbing phrases and create a carousel on LinkedIn or Instagram
- Create a 30 second video with a hook from the blog to drive interest
- Include it in email marketing
You’ve just turned one blog into five more pieces of content. That’s six pieces of content in total that you’ve scaled up to without any spam risk, and there are more options, too (think audio, infographics, and more).
Scale your content where and when it makes sense, not because you can
I’m all for more content when it’s done right and adds value to your audience. Content scaling through AI tools is only going to hurt your brand’s performance and growth.
Don’t waste your time and money on something you’re going to have to undo and spend more on later. Get your content process nailed now and focus on what matters to both search engines and users: value.
Looking for content that has real bite and keeps your readers engaged, without spamming your audience? Get in touch and let’s chat about how the right content strategy sets the stage perfectly for killer content writing so you stand out from your competition.
